About Moran

Moran Shipping Agencies is proudly celebrating 80 years of steamship agency excellence in 2017. From our humble beginnings in Providence, Rhode Island in 1937, to becoming the largest independent steamship agency in North America today, we could not have achieved this without the support of our loyal and valued clients, our superb vendors and our dedicated employees who continually strive to give their best each and every day. To all those who have contributed to our success, you have our sincere gratitude.

Moran’s growth over the past 80 years has been fueled by the vision of its owners. Our original founder, James F. Moran, had already expanded and successfully established additional offices in Boston, Massachusetts and Portland, Maine by the time he passed away in 1959. When F. Robert Black acquired ownership in 1970, what followed was an earnest effort to build Moran into a national shipping agency, beginning with the 1975 opening of Moran-Thibodeaux in Houston, TX shortly followed by offices in Port Arthur and Corpus Christi. In 1976, Kurz-Moran of New York was formed in partnership with the Charles Kurz Company.

James A. (Jim) Black joined Moran in 1974 and was instrumental in opening the Houston office, subsequently providing the organization with his operational and marketing expertise. Michael T. Black joined his brothers in 1982 working in an administrative and sales capacity from Moran’s Headquarters in Rhode Island. Jim continued Moran’s expansion across the U.S. Gulf throughout the 80’s, including the opening of offices in key ports such as New Orleans, LA, Galveston, TX, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale, FL.

The decade of the 90’s marked significant growth as Moran acquired ownership of Boston based Patterson & Wilde Steamship Agency and full ownership of Kurz-Moran Agencies in New York/New Jersey and Philadelphia. Over the ensuing years and into the 21st century, Moran has continued to opened offices in strategic markets to meet our clients’ needs. With additional locations in Texas, Louisiana, and Florida, and the establishment of Moran-Pacific on the West Coast, the company now has 20 full service offices directly serving over 100 ports in North America.

With the retirements of F. Robert in 1985 and Michael in 2005 (who still serves as Chairman), Jim continues to guide the company as President/CEO through the dramatic industry changes that have occurred this past decade. For Moran, these changes have resulted in significant advances in IT/Communications, Voyage Accounting, and Port Security, offering further advantages and benefits to our customers. Over the past 5 years, we have both renovated and built state-of-the-art facilities in Providence and Houston, allowing us the flexibility to manage our long-term growth and further develop the infrastructure to meet our industry's ever-changing requirements.

Most importantly throughout our 80 years, however, is the partnership formed with each principal during each vessel call and Moran Shipping Agencies’ unwavering commitment to providing the highest standard of agency service and care.